There is a big debate over criminal justice reform at the legislative session in Bismarck.

Attorney General Drew Wrigley suggests the state has been soft on crime, and that's resulted in higher crime rates. He's pushing a bill to keep people convicted of many crimes locked up for longer.

But Jonathan Holth, Gov. Kelly Armstrong's Commissioner of Recovery and Re-entry, pointed out on this episode of Plain Talk that, far from being soft on crime, North Dakota's incarceration rates have been climbing. According to state Department of Corrections data, he's right. The population in North Dakota's state prisons (not counting local jails) is up more than 15% over the last five years, and more than 47% in the previous 20.

There is friction between Wrigley and Armstrong's administration over Wrigley's sentencing bill, but Holth joined Plain Talk to talk about another set of bills lawmakers are considering.

House Bill 1425, 1417, and 1549, seek to create new tools to help those with addiction and mental health challenges navigate the criminal justice system and find peace and prosperity again.

HB1425 addresses diversion and deflection programs, which gives law enforcement, prosecutors, and judges some flexibility to get a person help instead of arresting, charging, and incarcerating them; HB1417 seeks to reform the probation and parole process, addressing things like paperwork and fees that could land people back in jail on minor technicalities; HB1549 deals with helping people re-entering society have the the things they need, like up-to-date ID, to find housing and jobs.

Holth says these three bills together provide "a comprehensive look at sort of the front end, the middle, and the back end" of the criminal justice system.

Also on this episode, Minot-area librarian Randi Monley, a co-chair of Right to Read ND, gave an update on the progress of Senate Bill 2307, which is book ban legislation introduced by Sen. Keith Boehm, who argues that North Dakota's libraries and schools are showing children pornography.

The legislation requires libraries to move supposedly offensive materials to places where children aren't allowed. "So in a K-12 library, what are you going to do? Are you going to have to have a separate space for just high school kids?" she asked. "I doubt many schools are going to do that.  Or does everything in the library need to be at the level for a kindergartener?"

Also on this episode, co-host Chad Oban and I discussed a hearing on Wrigley's legislation, Senate Bill 2128, which saw some less than truthful testimony.

This episode is presented by Bakken Backers. Bakken Backers is a coalition of businesses, leaders, workers, and citizens who support energy production from the Bakken formation and its many benefits for North Dakota. Learn more at BackTheBakken.org. 

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